Gissar Fortress

Qal‘ai Hisor (Persian: قلعه حصار‎) — a historical-cultural monument in Hisor district. Qal‘ai Hisor is part of the Hisor Historical-Cultural Reserve.

The word “hisor” (Persian: حصار‎) is Arabic and its meaning is “wall” and “fortress” (Persian: قلعه‎). This fortress, which is also located 5 kilometers north‑west of Dushanbe city, was formerly the same city of Shumon, which in the 15th–17th centuries AD was called “Hisor-i Shodmon”, i.e. Shodmon Fortress. Due to the mispronunciation “Shodmon” the name later became “hisor”, and the proper name — Hisor — was adopted.

The hill of Hisor, known as Qal‘ai Hisor, is a monument of the Pre‑Dastan period, and the fortress consists of three parts. Its upper part is the residence of the beks and amirs, the second part, i.e. the lower part, is the courtyard, and its main part forms a citadel. The area around Qal‘ai Hisor is surrounded by a high defensive stone wall, its height from the base of the fortress is 3.5 meters, and the wall’s top is 10 meters wide. From the seat of the beks the whole Hisor district can be seen as far as the eye can reach. Qal‘ai Hisor can be entered only through a door.

Historical Legends

Some believe that the fortress appeared in one night by the command of Allah. However, historical legends attribute its construction to the era of Shah Tahurasi Devband — son of Hushangshah, the ruler of Siyamak and the legendary king of the Pre‑Dastan period (years 3280‑993 to the AD era). According to the legends, Tahmuras, in a battle against demons using their own methods, i.e. by magic, prevailed, forced the demons to build this fortress and then bound the demons inside the fortress, teaching them letters and writing, thereby educating the captive people.

Also there is a legend about the magical hand of Qahqahi freeing the Gissar Fortress by Hazrat Ali (r) in folk literature. As soon as a person looks at the distant land far from the riverbank, he inevitably concludes that it was indeed built by some supernatural force.

Also individual researchers have approached the origin of the Gissar Fortress from a modern scientific point of view. Russian scientist N. Novgorodsev studied the issues related to the Gissar earthquake (January 23, 1989) from a geological perspective and wrote at the end of his article (journal “Around the World,” 1990): “The upper part of the fortress was built, and in the southern or natural part there was a deep lake at that time. Only a small remnant of that lake remains now. It is not unlikely that this lake was formed in a volcanic crater and ceased to exist over time. That lake received its water from underground oil springs.” From this scholar’s view it follows that the massive foundation of the Gissar Fortress was created as a result of volcanic activity and, after a long period, the actual volcano itself disappeared from memory, and walls and buildings were constructed on and around the crater.

The fortress and the city of Gissar have seen many just, noble, clean, and generous rulers, and from time to time they have become prosperous and beautiful.

Gissar Expedition

After the annexation of Central Asia by the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, the treaty of subordination of the Bukhara Emirate, including the subordination of Gissar to the Russian Empire, was concluded. Merchants, travelers, scientists, researchers, officials and everyone between Russia and Europe obtained the right to freely trade and conduct research. In 1875 the treasure of the prosperous Gissar of Shodmon was revealed to Europeans by the “Gissar Expedition.” Now they came to this land to study the villages and wildlife, natural waters and mineral springs, underground resources, politics and culture, and the living conditions of ordinary people. One of the European travelers, V. Markonyan, who visited Gissar in those years, recorded the poor health condition of the population and called this land “the valley of death” in his memoirs. The reason was that, apart from officials and the rich, the poor people did not receive medical service. Colonel (colonel) of the Russian royal artillery D. N. Logofet, who was in Gissar in 1880, described the complex life situation of the people with great regret: “In those years we carried out research work in the remote mountain villages, and we repeatedly heard new news from many inhabitants. Numerous complaints about the oppressive officials, as well as the lower servants, testified that they spoke openly about the outbreak of new popular uprisings in the subordination.” (“Administrative Structure of the Gissar Bekt”, Turkestan Gazette, 1880, No.112). This meticulous and learned researcher writes elsewhere in his work “In the Mountains and Valleys of Bukhara” (St. Petersburg, 1913, p.479):.

According to the testimony of this Russian royal legend, the area around the city of Hisor was fortified with a massive ten-kilometer wall with four bastion towers, which had five gates: “White Soil”, “Changgob”, “Moonlight Fountain”, “Shakkari” and “Obduzd”.

The first gates of the city of Hisor should have been made a monument, because the architecture of these gatehouses, like the modern gates of some parts of the world, is curved, built from reinforced fine brick and stone, and erected in the Eastern architectural style. They were guarded by watchmen and gatekeepers who inspected people and gave permission to enter. Unfortunately, now only their names of these gates remain and they have been occupied by wheat fields.